Using a cross-country panel, Lederman, Loayza, and Soares examine the determinants of corruption, paying particular attention to political institutions that increase political accountability. Previous empirical studies have not analyzed the role of political institutions, even though both the...

The recent upward trend in crime rates of developing countries has spurred widespread public concern about personal and proprietary insecurity. In some countries, the questions of crime, violence, and victimization are attracting more attention from academics and policy makers than traditional...

We investigate the robustness and causality of the link between income inequality and violent crime across countries. First, we study the correlation between the Gini index and homicide and robbery rates within and between countries. Second, we examine the partial correlation by considering...